Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce The Big Apple, a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.

“The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese”

"The early bird catches the worm” is a proverb dating from at least the 17th century; it means that whoever does something first has the best chance of success. However, the person who does something first also encounters the first problems. For example, the first mouse gets caught in the mousetrap.

“The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese” is a jocular anti-proverb that has been cited in print since at least 1994-95 and is of unknown authorship.

The Phrase FinderThe early bird catches the worm
Meaning
Success comes to those who prepare well and put in effort.
Origin
This is first recorded in John Ray’s A collection of English proverbs 1670, 1678:
“The early bird catcheth the worm.”

18 May 1998, Daily Herald (Chicago, IL), “Humor is the cure for whatever ails you” by Jack Mabley, sec. 1, pg. 10, col. 2:
Early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

New York (NY) Times
NEWS WATCH; For Home Users, No Need To Rush Out for Windows 2000
By PETER H. LEWIS
Published: February 17, 2000
(...)
After all, the early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Straight Dope Message Board
Mixed Metaphors
Gawain
09-13-2000, 01:16 PM
Originally posted by jjjfishe
The early bird catches the worm but the early worm gets eaten.

The early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

28 September 2001, Augusta (GA) Chronicle, “Naps are wasted on the young” by Bill Kirby, pg. 1C, col. 1:
The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
-- bumper sticker

Google BooksThe Dictionary of Modern Proverbs
Compiled by Charles C. Doyle, Wolfgang Mieder, and Fred Shapiro
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press
2012
Pg. 173:
The second mouse gets the cheese.
1997 Sydney [Australia] Morning Herald 13 Sep.: “Thought for the weekend, culled from Greg Cocks, of Brooklyn, from the Internet: The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese."The proverb might be thought of as an anti-proverb responding to “The early bird gets the worm”; often (as in the quotation) it appears in conjunction with the older proverb.